Dubya Goes Viral

Back in the day of penny licorice and 12-cent comic books, successful viral marketing was getting your movie on the cover of Time or Newsweek magazines, although usually after the films were released.

If you were really lucky your movie would jump from the entertainment page to the main news section of newspapers by causing a stink or a scandal, like when "Jaws" made people afraid to go to the beach or "The Exorcist" caused religious conversions.

Today, marketing has become an essential part of the film industry, in much the same way advertising creates a consumer demand for products people don't really want or need.

And because films have such a short shelf life, artificially creating a mystique around a film before its release has become something of an new media art form.

Perhaps the first modern film to successfully create a viral campaign was "The Blair Witch Project," with its "missing' posters that reinforced the film's pseudo-documentary realism.

"A.I. Artificial Intelligence" had a pervasive and unique Internet presence, using multiple websites seemingly but obliquely connected to the film. There was an anti-robot site, one promoting robotic freedom, and an exhaustive clearinghouse site that guided you through the convoluted layers of clues and puzzles.

In a weird twist, however, the film contained no overt references to any of these Internet puzzles.

Today it is de rigeur for a film to have a website.

For instance, it becomes news when the official site of a film like "The Incredible Hulk" due for release June 13, posts a handful of still photos from the film, starring Edward Norton.

So kudos to the film that goes the extra mile, like "The Simpsons Movie," whose website allowed people to create Simpsons-like avatars of themselves.

Also in that tradition is, of all things, "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay," due for release April 25th.

In the film, which looks like a raunchy comedy, John Cho and Kal Penn reprise their role as stoners who, this time, run afoul of air marshalls who mistake them for terrorists.

As part of the film's viral campaign you can send "a personalized message from Dubya" - by a Pres. Bush impersonator - to your friends by phone or e-mail.

It cleverly asks for clues to the person's personality which it includes in the message.